


Four Seasons

by tally_hoed



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 11:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4665315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tally_hoed/pseuds/tally_hoed





	Four Seasons

**Spring – New Beginnings**

March sees Kris down one roommate and not entirely sure if he wants another. He was earning enough money to cover the rent on his own, but it did mean that he wouldn’t be able to spoil himself as much (it wasn’t his fault he had expensive taste in clothing, he fully blamed Tao for that).

He did find the apartment quite lonely without the boisterous Chanyeol around and so when the latter brought up the fact that Jongin needed a place to stay, he barely hesitated before agreeing. 

Despite only meeting at a spattering of occasions, Kris found himself looking forward to the new arrangement. If Kris remembered correctly, Jongin was not as loud as Chanyeol, not as messy and certainly didn’t flop around in Kris’ personal bubble as though he belonged there.

Chanyeol was rigged into helping on moving day, as well as Jongin’s best friend Sehun. Kris helped out a little, adding the younger’s DVD and book stash to his own collection in the living room before handing out beers and settling onto the bed in Jongin’s new room.

“I give it a week before you start begging me to return.” Chanyeol said, wistfully looking around his old room, the walls now covered in various pictures of football players and landscapes. 

“Not likely, I think I’m going to enjoy not having to wrestle for the television every night.”

Jongin snorts at Kris’ response and Sehun digs his elbow into his side with a funny look on his face.

“I dunno hyung, seems like Jongin wouldn’t mind a tussle when it comes to household rights.” 

There’s an awkward pause before Chanyeol pulls a ratty shirt from the box he’s sitting on.

“Is this the same jedi shirt from grade school? How do you even still fit in it?”

Jongin mumbles something about it being a little snug as he snatches it away and sits on it.   
Out of sight, out of mind.

*

The weeks pass by, both Kris and Jongin skirting around each other until they fall into a comfortable pattern. Kris has to get used to bumping into a half-naked Jongin on his way to the bathroom, no large feet announcing his presence. Jongin learns to avoid being loud on Wednesday’s because it’s the day that Kris comes home cranky and stressed from work. 

By the end of Spring they have fallen into their own groove and they begin actually spending time together much to Chanyeol’s disdain. 

“You’ve replaced me.” Chanyeol says one night while they’re all out to dinner to celebrate his graduation. There’s a pout on his face and Kris has to restrain himself from leaning in to tug at his lower lip.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re still my best friend. And besides, you’re the one who abandoned me for Baekhyun anyway.”

“That’s different hyung! He’s my boyfriend. Besides you didn’t even like Jongin when you first met him. Now he’s moved in and you’re all buddy-buddy with him.”

Kris wants to laugh at the way Chanyeol has contorted his face but he holds back and simply shakes his head instead. He piles his meat onto the younger’s plate as a sign of apology and Chanyeol happily accepts, his mouth pulling into a wide grin as he stuffs his face. 

(It doesn’t stop Chanyeol from glaring at Jongin when he tries to steal meat off of Kris’ plate though.)

It’s not until they’re on their way home in the taxi that Kris realises how drunk Jongin is. He’s pressed up to him in the backseat despite being the only ones there and the warmth from his side seems to encase Kris as well. 

Jongin doesn’t let go of him until they’re in the apartment, his arm clinging around the older’s waist. 

“I am so not looking after you tomorrow. You can suffer alone.” Kris threatens as Jongin stumbles towards his bedroom. He receives a wave of the hand in response and he gets ready for bed, the memory of Jongin pressed to his side sending him to sleep relatively quickly.

Morning comes and Jongin wakes up to a large glass of orange juice and advil on his night stand. His gratitude comes in the form of treating Kris to brunch and slyly patting his ass on the way out.

And maybe they don’t wrestle to decide who does what chore, but washing the dishes has never been as much fun as covering Jongin’s head in bubbles and being chased around the kitchen in revenge. 

Kris doesn’t want to think about how comfortable he’s grown with Jongin, how three months had felt like he’d known him for a lifetime. It doesn’t stop him from asking Chanyeol about Jongin’s sexual orientation and relationship status. Maybe Chanyeol is trying to tell him something in the way he winks and keeps sending him these funny looks but in reality it just creeps Kris out. 

The end of Spring is marked with the breaking down of their air con and a subtle shift in the atmosphere in the apartment.

**Summer – Feeling Hot, hot, hot**

“I swear this is the hottest Summer Seoul has ever seen.”

Jongin is lying on the wooden floor in the living room, clad in nothing but a tank top and denim shorts that cover far too little for Kris’ liking.

He breathes out a ragged “Yeah” in agreement before trying to focus his attention back on the television. The fabric of the lounge is uncomfortable against him and he keeps shifting trying to unstick himself.

“It’s cooler down here, you should join me.” 

He slides down off the couch, an arms width away from Jongin and relishes the feeling of cool wood against his skin. 

They split the majority of their free time between lying on the floor and sitting out on the balcony, popsicles in hand. Kris learns that Jongin’s favourite flavour is the red one and he finds that he likes it too, the way the colour rubs off on Jongin’s lips, causing him to subconsciously flick his tongue out against his own lips.

Simply put, Summer brings a semi-permanent half-naked Jongin and with it a semi-permanent half-aroused Kris.

After finding out that the younger was both into guys and single, Kris couldn’t help but let himself stare a little longer at the hard lines contouring his upper body. 

He wonders if Jongin knows, can feel the way his eyes linger for longer than necessary. There’s a growing feeling of wanting to touch too, but it is way too hot to just pass it off as casual so he settles for just looking instead. 

More than anything, Kris looks forward to coming home now. Now that there’s someone there to welcome him home his day flies by and his normally neutral expression has a hint of sunshine to it. Chanyeol’s exact words had been a quote from a One Direction song, something that Kris is ashamed to admit that he recognised.

He comes home one night - Chinese take-out in hand- to a seemingly empty apartment.

“Jongin?” 

“In here.”

It comes from the bathroom and Kris wonders if his words are an invitation. He pauses at the bathroom door and knocks once.

“It’s okay, you can come in.”

Kris swallows nervously, the shower isn’t running and he hardly thinks Jongin would let him in while he was indisposed but…

He pushes open the door and Jongin is sitting in the bathtub, leaning against the wall with his legs hanging over the side.

“It is way too hot for a bath, what are you doing?”

Jongin grins and Kris melts.

“It’s cold, I bought a bag of ice on the way home from class.” He punctuates his sentence by flicking some of the water at Kris. He shivers when a few drops hit his neck and stalks forward trying to look menacing.

“This suit is expensive!” He has a hard time schooling his expression into an angry one and when Jongin just laughs at him he sighs in defeat.

“Take it off then. You look like a tomato and there’s plenty of room in the bath.”

The blush on Kris’ face must take him from tomato to beetroot because he can feel the blood rush to his cheeks. It’s a clear invitation though, one Kris intends on accepting. 

Jongin lied when he said there was plenty of room in the bath. They both end up with their legs dangling out and sitting next to each other, throwing ice cubes and getting water everywhere.

Kris remembers it as his second favourite memory of that Summer. 

His favourite memory maybe shouldn’t be. He hadn’t known that Jongin was afraid of thunderstorms, he guesses it’s not exactly vital information to share with your roommate.

So it comes as a surprise when he arrives home during a blackout and the first thing that happens when he steps through the door is an anxious Jongin jumping him. Despite being drenched from head to toe, Jongin clings to him and Kris reciprocates. It’s the first time he’s properly held the younger and finally he fully grasps how much smaller Jongin is. His head is buried in Kris’ neck and Kris is able to full wrap his arms around the younger’s narrow shoulders.

It’s not until he feels the fingers digging into him that he realises Jongin is upset. 

“What’s wrong?” His whisper is lost against the noise of the storm but Jongin seems to understand and shakes his head before pulling away.

The warmth of Jongin’s body heat doesn’t linger and Kris shivers in his wet skin.He tries to look at Jongin’s face to figure out what’s wrong but he keeps his eyes focussed on the ground.

“I don’t like storms.”

It’s quiet and Kris strains to hear it, pulling Jongin back in when he figures it out. 

“You’ll get sick, you should go dry off.”

Kris nods before doing so, frequent streaks lightening the only light source he has. He hurries, hearing a whimper from Jongin when the thunder gets louder and the apartment seems to shake with it. 

Despite his protests, Kris manages to wrangle Jongin into bed with him, thankful the rain had cooled Seoul down a bit. Jongin is lulled to sleep by the soft ticking of the fan as it swirls above them, Kris brushing his hair out of his face and mulling over how young he looks when he’s asleep.

This Summer is long, yet filled with moments and adventures that keep the both of them busy. Too busy to get the air con fixed despite Jongin complaining about it every night and Kris promising to call the guy tomorrow.

**Autumn – Wash away the weariness**

Kris is grateful for a break in the heat, even if it means Jongin is back to wearing full length clothing. The days are still just as long, the scenery easier to appreciate without the glare of the sun beaming down. 

The air con still isn’t fixed but the calm of Autumn causes them to forget about its existence. Jongin is as busy as ever with exams and Kris finds himself missing the younger, though it’s not as if he has any claim on his time.

They resort to leaving sticky-notes for each other on respective bedroom doors. Kris finds himself wondering if it’s normal to look forward to seeing a little yellow piece of paper hanging on his door when he comes home from work. Maybe not.

Breaking the year down, Kris would say that Autumn is the preparation period. It daunts on him that maybe missing Jongin means he wants more. Autumn gets you ready for Winter, it’s the footsteps you hear before somebody knocks on your door.

It’s the way he stays up each night until he hears the keys jingle in the lock, quiet shuffling through the apartment until they stop right outside Kris’ door. 

He wonders what Jongin thinks of while he waits there, does he want to see Kris just as badly? 

Finally, after weeks of staying out studying and hours of exams, Jongin is done. He rejects invitations to go out celebrating, choosing instead to race home and finally, finally see Kris for more than a fleeting minute.

He’s disappointed when he comes home and there’s no sign of Kris. He checks his watch and yeah, the guy should definitely have been home by now. Jongin goes for a shower, letting all the stress from exams wash away down the drain along with the worry over Kris’ absence.

By the time he gets out, Kris is home and he’s waiting for him with arms wide open. Jongin doesn’t even think to hesitate before he crosses the room and is caught up in everything that Kris has to offer. 

“How was it?” 

“Hard, but it’s over now. I can finally relax.” He smiles against Kris’ shoulder, giddy when the taller squeezes him a little tighter. 

Kris has no idea how long a hug should last. Are there different hugs for different relationships? What sort of relationship do they even have to decide how long the hug should last for? All these questions running through his mind and he decides to just focus on the warmth radiating from Jongin instead.

“Want to go out to celebrate?”  
Jongin pulls back, bottom lip between his teeth and eyes looking at Kris nervously.

“Is it okay if we just stay in? Order take-out or whatever?”

Kris nods, of course he would be too tired to go out. Otherwise he would be out with his friends now anyway.

“Sure, you must just want to rest now.”

They eat dinner while watching old re-runs, Jongin laughing at Kris’ poor attempt to recite the dialogue before it happens on screen. 

Kris wonders if Jongin can tell that he looks at him differently now, can somehow sense that Kris’ eyes linger on him longer than necessary.

*

“Can you tell that he looks at you though?” Chanyeol asks, slurping his soup all over the table.

Kris frowns and shoves some napkins at him.

“No, but he doesn’t so how could I?”

Chanyeol abandons his soup and looks at Kris thoughtfully.

“He does, he gets like all starry-eyed when you talk. It’s disgusting actually.” Chanyeol says it all matter-of-factly like what he just announced wouldn’t change Kris’ life.

“How come I don’t notice it then if I’m looking at him all the time?”

Chanyeol snorts and yeah, Kris is glad he traded up.

“You guys do that whole clichéd ‘look away when the other one looks’ thing. Maybe you should try holding his gaze instead.”

Kris does as he’s told and vows never to listen to Chanyeol again. Instead of increasing intimacy (as Chanyeol had so helpfully supplied) all it did was cause Jongin to blush, stutter and drop his food onto his lap.

(“So maybe not when he’s holding something then.”  
“Yeah thanks man, I’ll keep that in mind.”)

So Autumn rolls over with a slight edge of awkward shifting between the housemates. Kris hopes Winter brings him some more stability.

**Winter – Hibernation**

“Can we just stay inside please. I’m going to turn into a Jongin flavoured popsicle if we go out.” He’s barely audible from under the pile of blankets Kris had disposed on top of him. 

“I wouldn’t mind a Jongin flavoured popsicle.” Kris says under his breath.

“Did you say something?” He pops his head out from his mass of warmth and Kris really wants to ruffle at his bed hair. So he does. It’s nice, and when Jongin yelps and grabs at his hands – that’s nice too.

“I promised Chanyeol we would meet them in the park. Come on, it’s not that bad.”

Jongin just glowers at him, looking like a puppy who has just had their favourite toy taken away.

It is that bad, but then it’s not because Jongin decides to make up for his lapse in judgement, Kris has to be his personal heater. He’s got the younger with his back pressed to his chest, perfect height for him to lean his chin on Jongin’s shoulder. When Chanyeol and Baekhyun arrive, Chanyeol’s eyebrows get lost in his hairline but he doesn’t say a word. Just shakes his head and tries to hide his smile.

Jongin and Baekhyun give up the snowball fight after only a couple of hours, claiming frostbite. Chanyeol insists they go get coffee instead but unsurprisingly Jongin refuses, and they part ways with Chanyeol looking suspiciously happy.

“It would have been warmer in the coffee shop you know.”

Right, the air con still hadn’t been fixed. 

“Yeah but the coffee shop doesn’t have electric blankets and pillows.”

“Valid point.”

*

Only weeks into Winter and the weather gets harsh. Going out without the right gear will most definitely result in blue lips and frozen fingers. Kris chastises Jongin when he comes home after school one day without a beanie on his head or a scarf wrapped around his neck.

“You’re going to get sick.”

“I was in a rush okay? Not my fault I slept through the alarm.”

“Right, it was the alarm’s fault for not being loud enough? Go get in the shower and I’ll make some soup.”  
Jongin grins and that serves as a better heater than an air con ever could.

*

When someone comes shuffling into Kris’ bedroom at midnight he has no hesitation in pulling back a corner of his covers. Jongin slides into bed and clings onto Kris like a koala.

“Electric blanket stopped working.” He serves it up as some kind of excuse, but Kris doesn’t care why he’s in his bed, just that he’s warm and soft and fits in like he belongs there.

Jongin keeps trying to make excuses whenever he invades Kris’ space and he really wishes he could tell him he doesn’t need to, that he can invade his space without a reason. Throughout this whole thing, whatever it was that was going on, Kris had always thought he would be the one to get it out on the table and sort of confess or whatever.

But it’s Jongin who takes him out for lunch, intertwines their fingers over the table and asks low but firm if Kris would ‘maybe want to be more than friends?’

After a few seconds of blinking dumbly (he should have known, but SURPRISE) he grins and agrees, squeezing Jongin’s fingers in his own. 

Jongin stops making excuses after that, not even bothering to go to his room first before he attempts to slip under the sheets with Kris. 

Even though it had taken practically forever for their relationship to mature, Kris finds himself glad that he has the excuse of Winter weather to keep his boyfriend to himself.

Kris had always preferred dipping his body into the pool before complete submersion anyway, never one to go diving in without testing the waters.

Jongin’s favourite season has always been Summer, even in all his complaints he would take the warmth of the sun over the bitterness of Winter. He thinks though, maybe this Winter could change things. 

There’s no need to get their aircon fixed now, not when body heat acts as a better heater than recycled air ever could. 

He likes the security that Kris offers too. There’s guidance but no judgement, a certain degree of possession that still allows Jongin his much needed freedom. 

He had been nursing his crush for an awfully long time before saying anything but when Chanyeol had outright told him that Kris liked him, he couldn’t wait any longer.

The passing by of three seasons was enough.


End file.
